Al-Ahqaf · Makki · ayah 33 of 35

Al-Ahqaf 46:33

أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا۟ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ وَلَمْ يَعْىَ بِخَلْقِهِنَّ بِقَـٰدِرٍ عَلَىٰٓ أَن يُحْـِۧىَ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ ۚ بَلَىٰٓ إِنَّهُۥ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

“Do they not see that Allāh, who created the heavens and earth and did not fail in their creation, is able to give life to the dead? Yes. Indeed, He is over all things competent.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The One who made the heavens and earth without tiring or faltering can surely bring the dead to life; yes, He has power over everything.

A reflection

The task that never outlasted Him

Lam yaʿya means He was not wearied. The lexicons give the root a vivid range. A walker who could go no further had aʿyā. A long march wore a camel down the same way. A disease that baffled every healer was called by the same root. In every case, the task outlasts the one facing it. The image is established.

The ayah says the making of the heavens and the earth did not do this to Him. Not in the slightest, as one commentary puts it. Elsewhere the Quran says the same: no weariness touched Us (50:38).

Now hold that beside our own lives. Picture a man at a dinner party who cannot stop listing his schedule. Three cities this week, a flight at five tomorrow, four hours' sleep a night. He says it with a tired pride, as if exhaustion were a medal. The guests nod politely.

The ego loves to be busy and admired for it. It turns its limits into boasts. Yet every one of us is a walker who will one day go no further. The heavens He made without effort; our week of meetings floors us.

Someone may ask whether a God who describes His own tirelessness is boasting too. The difference is complete. The man at the dinner party needed the guests' admiration. Allah needs nothing from anyone (35:15). He tells us this so we stop doubting what He can do, not so we will applaud.

The humbling question is not whether He tires. It is why I keep acting as if the world depends on my not tiring. Rest, too, can be an act of humility.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.